Over the last few weeks, I've received several calls which all have the same modus operandi. A disembodied robotic voice tries to get me to connect on WhatsApp.
Some of the voices are reasonable facsimiles of human voices (like the above) and some are just garbage.
The voice clip plays and the call immediately terminates.
What I can't understand is how this can possibly be effective from the scammers' point of view. On receiving the call the victim must…
- Decided to answer from an unknown number.
- Listen to the message and decide it is legitimate.
- Go the their phone's dialler app.
- Copy the caller's phone number.
- Open WhatsApp.
- Install WhatsApp if they don't have it already
- Create a new contact - giving a name - and pasting the number.
- Engage with the contact.
That's a lot of effort based on… what? A vague offer? There's a little bit of a curiosity gap but not much. It's hardly "add me on WhatsApp or we'll release the photos we have of you" or "you've won the lottery, add me on WhatsApp to get the funds", or "This is the CEO of your company, urgently add me…".
I guess that if a spammer is able to send out thousands of these messages then they might be able to attract a couple of people to engage with them. There's no easy way to report a spam account to WhatsApp unless you've engaged with it.
I also assume that WhatsApp will see that you were the person who initiated WhatsApp contact - which makes them less likely to think the scammer is the problem.
I am just fascinated to see if this scam can possibly be effective. Generating fake voices is free, as is placing short calls. WhatsApp accounts are also free and easy to automate. But are there really that many people willing to go to the effort of adding a new contact based on so little information?
Obviously, all spam is a numbers game. If the message reaches someone receptive to a robocall, they're less likely to query the scam. And, yes, I know that you're a very clever boy and don't answer unknown numbers - but in the real world people get calls from hospitals, recruiters, and friends with new numbers.
If you're a spammer and have found this approach effective - please leave a comment!
Update! July 2025. A new variant. Same basic message, but a much more natural sounding voice. I wonder if they're using real people now?
6 thoughts on “What's up with this "Please add me on WhatsApp" robocall spam?”
@Edent I had *loads* of these up to a couple of weeks back and then they suddenly stopped.
Mystifying, really. I agree with your analysis - I can't see how this works.
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@Edent Yes, I've had this but it seems to have stopped now. "Add me on WA to hear about a job role".
| Reply to original comment on ioc.exchange
What's up with this "Please add me on WhatsApp" robocall spam? | Hacker News
| Reply to original comment on news.ycombinator.com
Mike
I assume it’s much the same concept as scam emails being deliberately poorly written so the only people who respond are those who don’t see how poorly written the message is, or don’t see it being so poorly written as a red flag, so are more likely to be exploitable. The only people who respond will be those who are inclined to do what the weird anonymous message tells them to, and thus more likely to follow further weird messages. Never underestimate how gullible people can be and how much effort some will put in to being scammed. As someone who works in IT security once told me, you’d think people in those sort of jobs wouldn’t get all the way to buying and sending the codes from iTunes gift cards because a scammer pretending to be a colleague asked them to for very implausible reasons, and yet they did. And some people will go to the effort of figuring out how to send Bitcoin to someone claiming to be Keanu Reeves. https://www.unilad.com/news/us-news/keanu-reeves-romance-scam-woman-651767-20241228
I've never found this to be an effective method to get anyone to call me.
I’ve been getting a few of these recently, never answered to them but the call screening shows me what they said in real time but never captured the full message, the new July 2025 variant is the exact one I’ve had multiple times now.
I only just decided to give this a quick search and came across this blog, it all makes sense to me now! Thanks for sharing this!
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